Small business owners recognize the value of self-service because it allows them to serve more customers with minimal staffing overhead. This article gives you the components to piece together a very economical do-it-yourself kiosk for your small business or startup for under $1000

The Components That Make Up Your “Cheap Kiosk”

Firstly, I want to clarify that when I say “cheap” I’m not referring to using shoddy hardware or a free hosting service that could be unreliable. Your kiosk is going to be a reflection of your business, so the last thing you want to do is leave a bad impression with your customers because your kiosk is constantly out of commission.

By cheap I mean affordable, because in order to do this on a tight budget you’re going to be selecting proven reliable hardware that’s not the latest and greatest on the market.

Let’s start by examining the components which make up your typical kiosk solution.

The kiosk hardware

The kiosk application

The kiosk lockdown software

Kiosk Hardware

Most kiosks are either a freestanding design or else deigned to sit on a tabletop or be mounted to a wall.

We’re going to use a tablet with a secure enclosure designed for a tabletop in this example because it’s a very economical and practical option.

This list is also a good starting point for selecting your tablet. There’s no point in selecting a tablet which no one builds a secure enclosure for.

We’re going to go ahead and use the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 tablet because it’s a proven device running Windows 8.1. At the time of this writing the Surface Pro 3 has been out for a while so you can get the Surface Pro 2 for a good price.

The list price is $899, but a quick search on Amazon shows that I can get a new one for $529.99.

Next we need a tablet enclosure designed for a tabletop and secure enough for a self-service environment. We’re going to use the Full Metal Jacket + Figure 8 Base from ArmorActive which costs $289.

Total Cost: $991.39

As you can see, putting together a self-service tablet kiosk solution can be very economically provided you select the right components and are willing to create the kiosk application yourself.

If you get stuck, it’s not hard to find WordPress developers online for a reasonable rate.

Your new tablet kiosk will allow you to serve more customers and even save on labor costs through the use of self-service.

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Editor Notes:

For your “cheap kiosk” remember for this example the cost is referenced to direct up-front costs, not subsequent costs. A service call is 2 hours of somebody’s time, usually at $60/hour. Computers which are End of Life are naturally cheaper, just like consumer models. The reason is odds are a year from now it won’t be available as a replacement. And instead of a Surface 3 for $500 you could use a $250 ASUS Transformer. Which one will need replacing first?

DIY Android Kiosk

For an Android kiosk there are multiple Android lockdowns. KioWare and Sitekiosk should be considered at the top. Both of these come with robust kiosk remote monitoring options.

Then there is also Chrome Kiosks another option. It has the Chrome management console.

Whatever people touch, people will eventually break. Figure on that and you should consider your keyboard (if used) and your touchscreen. Poorly mounted tablets which are banged around by people poking at them end up costing money.

And remember DIY kiosks generally always appear to customers as DIY. Maybe that is a profitable strategy for some (dollar store e.g.).

Moody Library information kiosk

Video news story from news station on information kiosk at the public library and how useful it has been to the general public, especially those without decent (or any) internet connection. Information terminals for the “underserved” or “underconnected” population much like the unbanked.

A new part of the Moody Library is the first of its kind in the state.

The Iowa Department of Transportation renewal kiosk is a web-based device that uses touch-screen technology to allow each customer to renew their own driver’s license or ID, including a secure update of the photo that will appear on the customer’s new card.

Renew your driver’s license at library kiosks was last modified: May 28th, 2015 by Kiosk Industry

“One focus of my group’s research is mimicking lung tissue, but the materials we work with, called hydrogels, have a broad range of biomedical applications including drug delivery systems and tissue engineering platforms to study a variety of diseases,” says Kloxin, who has joint appointments in the departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering.

“The goal of our work is to develop technologies that improve human health, and we want to show science in a positive light.”

Porn is still the number one topic for which users search online. If you stop to think about this, it’s quite surprising that online porn is such big business. Intuitively, one would expect that sexual pleasuring is the one area which needs a hands on personal touch , and yet the adult industry is able to deliver pleasure online to millions, using clever technology. Can healthcare learn how to successfully replace high touch with high tech from them ?As my friend, Sanjiv Khandelwal pointed out,

In the financial services industry, the term “cash handling” is commonplace. Everyone – from the C-suite down to each individual worker, knows the value of quality cash handling and money management. However, in the retail industry, the importance of cash handling can slip through the cracks.

The 2.0 software upgrade leverages Xerox’s healthcare IT infrastructure to seamlessly interface with insurance claims through a payment data feed and integrates with electronic medical records (EMRs) for continuity of care. The back-end integration with the Xerox infrastructure enables a secure, cloud-based environment that is scalable to and delivers consistent performance.

During his tenure as CEO since 2005, Bill Nuti had moved NCR Corporation (originally National Cash Register) from its historical competence in hardware to become a provider of hardware and software for managing transactions across a range of industries and payments methods. Nuti envisioned a world in which consumers would use NCR hardware or applications whether transacting at a bank or ATM, purchasing clothes at a retailer, or checking into a flight at an airport—and in which NCR software would register the transactions, securely store and process the data, and use the transaction information to help NCR customers efficiently manage their operations.

In 2011 and early 2013, NCR had made two major acquisitions of companies that were important providers of transaction software in the retail and hospitality industries. Now, in late November 2013, Nuti and his team were considering a third potential major acquisition: Digital Insight, a market leader in online and mobile banking solutions. Nuti saw Digital Insight as key to complementing NCR’s offerings in the financial services industry, transforming it from a maker of standalone, electromechanical cash registers and ATMs into an “omni-channel, omni-commerce, software-driven company.” Would this acquisition be the next right strategic move for NCR’s transformation?

Move over, Seattle and New York. Philly may not be a first-gen adopter, but I’m proud to say my city’s pay-t0-ride biking service is already a smash hit, with over 8,000 rides and 2,400 new members in its first week alone.

Marking its entry into the patient identification market, health IT security company Imprivata has acquired Tampa, Fla.-based HT Systems, which develops technology for palm-vein based biometric patient ID.

HT Systems serves hospital systems and large medical groups nationwide. Its PatientSecure biometric ID system provides positive patient identification by distinguishing the vein pattern in a patient’s hand and retrieving the correct medical record in the healthcare provider’s electronic health record system at patient check-in. This improves patient safety and satisfaction, eliminates duplicate medical records and overlays, and guards against identity theft and insurance fraud, according to Imprivata.[See also: CHIME antes $1M for patient matching]PatientSecure has identified more than 22 million patients across 65 healthcare systems comprising more than 350 hospitals and thousands of clinics.“We believe that in the next paradigm of healthcare, if you are going to have any meaningful patient engagement, being able to easily identify patients is going to be a critical component,” said Hussain.

Think about the amount of digital signage you pass in the course of one day. You see it in malls, on sidewalks, and above your head on subway platforms. That’s a lot of hardware, a lot of software and, given the weather conditions some of the signs are exposed to, a lot of things that can go wrong. Which is why one of North America’s major advertising companies relies on TELUS Partner Esprida to help them monitor and maintain their digital signs. I sat down with Rupi Badwal, Esprida’s Corporate Alliance Director, and Asad Jobanputra, their Director of IoT Solutions, and they told me more.

“Our client builds digital signage enclosures,” explained Rupi. “They have multiple deployments across the U.S., such as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, San Francisco’s BART transit system and more. They sell their unique enclosures to major outdoor advertising companies, so they have to make sure the signs are working and that they minimize onsite support costs. To do that, they use our Esprida LiveControl™ to gather data from 30+ sensors and make smart decisions”. Esprida LiveControl is a very broad IoT platform for remote service, providing users with a global dashboard, remote diagnostics, remote control, notifications, software updates, and analytics.”

The metric system. Warm beer. A crazy obsession with soccer. Impossibly tiny male bathing suits. There are some things that Europeans love and we as Americans will just never understand. But whether we understand them or not, restaurants and other retail stores are soon going to have to get on board with another European trend — EMV (Europay Mastercard Visa), or chip-and-pin cards.EMVIn the US, we’re used to the magnetic stripe style of credit and debit cards. But we’re actually one of the last

Kiosks make it easy to display information about your company, allow users to interact with website-driven company directories, get details about products, advertise your products and services, and much more. But how do you set up a kiosk? Surely they are complex creatures that require much care and attention!

Not even remotely. Kiosks can be created using a standard machine or even a tablet. With simple and cost-effective solutions, you can have one up and running quickly. If you don’t want to invest too much time and money into the project, the five kiosk apps listed here are well suited for the task. In some instances, these apps will require you to have the HTML pages already set up and ready to go. Let’s dig into them and see if one will serve your needs.

Kiosks make it easy to display information about your company, allow users to interact with website-driven company directories, get details about products, advertise your products and services, and much more. But how do you set up a kiosk? Surely they are complex creatures that require much care and attention!

Not even remotely. Kiosks can be created using a standard machine or even a tablet. With simple and cost-effective solutions, you can have one up and running quickly. If you don’t want to invest too much time and money into the project, the five kiosk apps listed here are well suited for the task. In some instances, these apps will require you to have the HTML pages already set up and ready to go. Let’s dig into them and see if one will serve your needs.

Kiosk Lockdown – Five tools to help you set up a kiosk was last modified: April 30th, 2015 by Kiosk Industry

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